Engineers Without Borders

Our chapter has received a $400 gift from the ConocoPhillips Company. We appreciate this and will put the money towards our Suncallo, Bolivia water project.

The Colorado Springs Professional Chapter has undergone some changes in recent months and is actively preparing for our next phase of the Bolivia project. With both Sean Keefe (past president) and Nicole Mosby (project leader) pursuing new jobs, we have a new and capable leadership group. They are:
Pete Eisele-President
Matt Grimes- Vice President
John Marcotte- Treasurer
Lisa Barbato- Project Leader

We certainly would like to have more help, so any of you out there who feel moved come join us, you’re more than welcome! Or if you’d just like to come to a meeting to see what we do, there’s no expectation of commitment Click on the Meetings Tab on our website for time and place.

As many of you may know, our chapter does not get project funding from EWB USA except for a small amount that goes to reduce administrative costs. So It takes a good deal of effort on our part to do fundraising. We have done presentations to two Rotary Clubs this Fall in hopes of getting their support and funding. We have also applied for grants, receiving one in September. We hope to add to that in the next few months, although the competition is very tight for most of the possibilities.

Our project work is ongoing. Our current project involves providing an improved water system, sanitation facilities and an irrigation water supply for the Aymaran Indian community of Suncallo, Bolivia. During our next phase (Phase 2),which is planned for April/May of 2010, we plan to construct a new spring intake for their water system and perform some site surveying as well as other data needed for Phase 3 construction. We will probably send only two of our people to perform the Phase 2 work and solicit the villagers to assist in these tasks. The villagers are very amiable people and are eager to have these projects constructed. The extent of work we can do during Phase 3 will depend on both fundraising and the time commitment required. This phase is planned for the Fall of 2010.

You might wonder how we are able to accomplish the logistics of this type of undertaking. We are fortunate to have the help of a local Bolivian organization called Engineers in Action (EIA). This is a small technical services group located in La Paz that provides services like purchasing local materials, transportation to the village, an onsite cook and an Aymaran to Spanish to English interpreter. They charge reasonable rates to do this and without them there wouldn’t be a project!

We look forward to this coming year as challenging and exciting. Thanks to you many supporters!

Incoming freshman at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) are required to take a freshman seminar class. One of the offerings is a class called Imagine

Imagine providing clean drinking water, consistent power, stable food supplies, and habitable environments to people for the FIRST time. Imagine enhancing mobility for a person missing an arm or a leg. Imagine improving the quality of human life. Imagine all these things most of us take completely for granted each day, but things that aren’t available in certain parts of the world and even in certain parts of the United States. This exciting Freshman Seminar course will examine a variety of social issues from an engineering perspective.

For the second year in a row the Colorado Springs Professional chapter has been invited to present a guest lecture on Engineers Without Borders. I delivered the presentation to a group of 25 or so young students and encouraged them to get involved in some facet of humanitarian aid. The students were challenged in their thinking of how a large portion of the worlds population really lives and how so many of these people lack access to basic needs.

Our hope is that the students will develop a passion for helping others and seek out a humanitarian organization to participate in.